When I moved to Coldstream (Vernon Irrigation District water) from California, I was appalled at the brown water that came from my tap in the spring and the frequent boil water advisories.
I had trouble believing I was living in a first world country.
The U.S. EPA certainly has its flaws, but insisting on clean, safe tap water isn’t one of them.
The Duteau Creek water treatment facility has improved our water significantly, but it still does not meet post-Walkerton provincial water safety standards, and it needs to.
These standards are not excessive, and they are for our benefit to protect us from water-borne disease.
The technical advisory committee is made up of knowledgeable experts in the field who have thoroughly and meticulously examined all of the possibilities and determined the cost of each option.
If you haven’t gone to one of their presentations, I would recommend that you do (the last one is at the Regional District of North Okanagan office Oct. 28 from 5 to 7 p.m.).
We must consider our current system with its advantages and disadvantages, and we have to plan for the future.
Because our system developed using two water sources, Kalamalka Lake and Duteau Creek it is too costly to start from scratch and use Okanagan Lake water.
Yes, the plan that the technical advisory committee is recommending is expensive, but what value would we put on our health?
And we have no choice, our water must meet provincial safety standards.
Providing safe drinking water to 55,000 people is not cheap, but not bringing our water up to safety standards in a organized, intelligent manner is only going to be more expensive in the long run.
Janet Parkins
Coldstream
